Footwear

ABSTRACT

A shoe secures the foot like a flip flop without requiring the wearer to grip the shoe with their foot muscles and covers the foot, protecting it from injury and cooler temperatures. A wearer can easily insert their foot in shoe, as they would the traditional slipper, but the shoe would not slip off. The foot would naturally cling to a thong portion of the slipper. A wearer could wear the shoe outside for distance walking just as they would flip flops in warmer weather.

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to U.S.Provisional App. No. 61/724,967, filed 10 Nov. 2012 by the inventorhereof, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of Endeavor

The present invention relates to a Y-shaped thong sandal where the tophalf of the foot is covered like a clog.

2. Brief Description of the Related Art

There is no slipper in which a person can insert and remove a footeasily and quickly without manual help that is also secure and protectsthe foot from injury. Inserting a foot in a Y-shaped thong sandal (e.g.,a “flip flop”) is easy and does not require manual assistance, but itexposes the foot, particularly the toes and, making it more vulnerableto injury. The flip flop is exclusively a warm weather shoe and forcesthe feet to be exposed even when the wearer is uncomfortable showinghis/her feet.

A bedroom type slipper or clog, which slips on and off without manualhelp, also makes the foot vulnerable to injury because it is not secure.The foot easily slips in and out, but there is nothing to secure thefoot inside and it requires trained foot muscles to keep the footinside. There is no slip-on, slip-off shoe that is secure andcomfortable that does not require the foot to use its muscles to keepthe foot positioned.

According to “Hip Fractures: A practical guide to management”, byKenneth Koval and Joseph Zuckerman (Springer, 2000), ill-fitting bedroomslippers are the cause for many elderly people falling in the middle ofthe night on their way to the bathroom. A flip flop does not protect thefoot from injury because it completely exposes the foot, while atraditional backless slipper slips off too often and can injure thewearer by overextending the Achilles tendon or, worse, cause the wearerto fall if they climb stairs with the backless slipper on and are notgripping the shoe strongly with their foot.

SUMMARY

According to a first aspect of the invention, a shoe comprises a soleincluding a top surface, a bottom surface, a front, and a rear; an upperattached to the sole and enclosing only a portion of the sole topsurface adjacent to the sole front, the upper exposing the sole topsurface adjacent to the sole rear; and a Y-shaped strap attached to thesole top surface, the strap being positioned entirely between the upperand the sole top surface.

Still other aspects, features, and attendant advantages of the presentinvention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from areading of the following detailed description of embodiments constructedin accordance therewith, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention of the present application will now be described in moredetail with reference to exemplary embodiments of the apparatus andmethod, given only by way of example, and with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment offootwear as described herein;

FIG. 2 illustrates a top view of the exemplary footwear of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates a front view of the exemplary footwear of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 illustrates a rear view of the exemplary footwear of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 illustrates a sectional view of the exemplary footwear of FIG. 1,taken along line 5-5 in FIGS. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

The footwear described herein is an improvement on slippers or aslip-on, backless shoe. In very general terms, exemplary embodiments area Y-shaped thong sandal where the top of the front half of the foot iscovered like a clog or slipper, while the rear of the footwear isentirely open in the manner of a clog.

Concerning slip-on indoor and outdoor footwear, the available optionsfall into one of two categories: a thong sandal or “flip flop”; or aclog, essentially a slipper in which a foot can be inserted and removedeasily without manual help, which typically does not include a backstrap or heal portion. As discussed above, the flip flop exposes theentire foot, making it vulnerable to injury and is restricted to being awarm weather shoe for all but the most adventurous. The clog or backlessslipper requires a wearer to exercise foot muscles to keep the slipperattached to the foot, because of the lack of structure of the footwearthat secures the footwear to the wearer's foot, or which permits thewearer's toes to ‘hold’ the footwear. The options make a wearer prone toinjury if the wearer is walking up and down stairs or loses grip of theslipper while walking. The Achilles tendon can become overextended orstrained.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

10 overall footwear

12 sole

14 natural or synthetic upper

16 Y-shaped thong

18 insole

Footwear embodying principles of the present invention includes a flipflop with half of the top of the foot, including the toes, covered likea clog, while leaving the rear of the shoe entirely open, in the mannerof a slipper or clog. The upper or cover 14 can be made of fur orsynthetic stretchable material, leather or silk or some other material.The insole could contain materials that would allow it to mold to anindividual's feet, creating a well-supporting shoe. Optionally, thefootwear 10 can be made more durable and more supportive of the foot,ankle, leg and back, with the inclusion of a sturdy bottom which couldresemble an athletic shoe, e.g., running or training shoe with atextured bottom of the sole. The sole can be formed integral with theupper, or optionally they can be formed of two separate pieces which arepermanently joined together.

Optionally, the footwear 10 can be made to provide additional orthopedicsupport by the further inclusion of materials in the insole that are, orresemble, memory foam.

The upper 14 (slipper) portion, which would cover the top of the foot,can be made of various materials including, but not limited to, fur,leather, silk, or synthetic materials. Furthermore, the upper 14 can bemade of a breathable material, and/or can include holes or perforations,either entirely or in selected portions thereof.

The Y-shaped thong 16 is preferably constructed essentially the same asthe same or similar structure currently commonly available in flipflops, e.g., includes a forward strap which includes a forward endsecured to the insole, and a pair of side straps with rear ends alsosecured to the insole, with the rear end of the forward strap secured tothe front ends of the side straps. Those of ordinary skill in thefootwear art are well-acquainted with the structures and functions ofsuch straps. As illustrated in the exemplary embodiment, the locationwhere the front end of the forward strap is secured to the sole orinsole is spaced from the front end of the footwear 10 a distancesufficient for a wearer's toes to be comfortably located therein, andthe locations where the rear ends of the side straps are secured to thesole or insole are advantageously positioned within the space covered bythe footwear upper 14. Alternatively, the short side straps of theY-shaped thong are attached on either side of the insole in about thesame place where the cover is attached to the sole.

In use, the wearer's foot would slip into footwear 10, grasp onto thethong attached to the top portion of the insole 18, and half of the footwould be covered by material instead of exposing the toes and most ofthe foot. The user will feel the Y-shaped thong between their big toeand the second toe. The wearer will only see the cover which attaches tothe base or sole of the shoe. The wearer inserts his/her foot intoopening of the footwear 10, and the foot will be secured when theY-shaped thong is between the big toe and the second toe. The wearer'sfoot will be covered by the cover and the wearer will walk withouthaving to grip the insole and will be able to walk in the sandal withoutexposing the foot.

Optionally, the upper 14 can include a plush or fur lining. Furtheroptionally, the upper 14 is detachable from the rest of the footwear,e.g., the upper, the insole, the sole, or combinations thereof caninclude fasteners (hook-and-loop-pile type fasteners, snaps, lacing,buttons, etc.) which permit the upper to be removable without damagingthe upper or the rest of the footwear, so that the wearer can change thelook of, or wash, the footwear.

The cover advantageously extends about ¾ of the length of the sole ofthe footwear. The upper or cover is preferably attached to the sole(i.e., the base of the footwear), either at the insole or to the sidesof the sole. More specifically, the upper is advantageously attached ateither side of the sole—one on the left and one on the right of thesole—about ½ to ¾ from the front of the shoe. The upper or cover israised and arcuate, and sits above the Y-shaped thong, forming a spacebetween the sole and the upper in which a front portion of the wearer'sfoot can be inserted.

The upper or cover does not have to attach to any part of the Y-shapedthong material, but will instead cover the thong portion. The wearerwill not see the thong when they slip the shoe on.

According to an alternative embodiment (not illustrated), the two sidestraps are eliminated, and the front strap connects directly between thesole (or insole) and the upper or cover. This alternative embodimentpreferably does not have a removable upper, because removing the upperwould require detaching the front strap from the remainder of thefootwear, potentially destabilizing the footwear. In this alternativeembodiment, the front strap can optionally be removably connected to thesole and/or the upper, so that if the upper is detached from the sole,the front strap can also be separated from either or both of the upperand the sole.

When the upper or cover is made to be detachable, then the wearer canchange the look of the footwear by making it leather one day and silkthe next. The wearer can wash the footwear, its cover and sole, wear thefootwear without the upper, and then attach the upper if the foot getscold. Indeed, footwear embodying principles of the present invention canbe worn to work with a natural leather cover, or to the beach with arubber or waterproof cover. The footwear described herein could be wornin a variety of settings depending on the material used. It can be usedby professionals on their feet all day, by brides that want acomfortable fashionable shoe that grips their feet and does not requirethem to bend down to put the shoe on. The footwear 10 is good forelderly people and patients in nursing homes or hospitals that need toget in and out of bed but cannot bend down and put on shoes that protecttheir feet and do not want to slip when their slippers slip off.Footwear described herein is good for active people that want to wearshoes but need footwear that provides support and they can slip on andoff; it is a good summer shoe between pedicures or a year-round optionfor those that do not want to expose their feet; it can be worn bypeople who break their toes or have foot surgery on their toes and arenot allowed to wear closed-toe shoes for a period but do not want toshow their bandages through thong sandals.

Advantageous further materials include: memory foam (e.g., TEMPUR) orcork for the insole; elastic or soft leather for the thong portion; theentire footwear 10 could be rubber or a rubberized material, e.g.,elastomeric polymer (for the pool, warm rainy days); and/or the entireshoe could be formed of a plush material.

While the invention has been described in detail with reference toexemplary embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to one skilled in theart that various changes can be made, and equivalents employed, withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention. The foregoing description ofthe preferred embodiments of the invention has been presented forpurposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed, andmodifications and variations are possible in light of the aboveteachings or may be acquired from practice of the invention. Theembodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principlesof the invention and its practical application to enable one skilled inthe art to utilize the invention in various embodiments as are suited tothe particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of theinvention be defined by the claims appended hereto, and theirequivalents. The entirety of each of the aforementioned documents isincorporated by reference herein.

I claim:
 1. A shoe comprising: a sole including a top surface, a bottomsurface, a front, and a rear; an upper attached to the sole andenclosing only a portion of the sole top surface adjacent to the solefront, the upper exposing the sole top surface adjacent to the solerear; and a Y-shaped strap attached to the sole top surface, the strapbeing positioned entirely between the upper and the sole top surface. 2.A shoe according to claim 1, wherein the Y-shaped strap comprises: aforward strap having a rear end and a forward end secured to the sole;and a pair of side straps each having a front end and a rear end securedto the sole, wherein the rear end of the forward strap is secured to thefront ends of the side straps.
 3. A shoe according to claim 1, wherein alocation where the front end of the forward strap is secured to theinsole is spaced from the front end of the sole a distance sufficientfor a wearer's toes to be comfortably located therein.
 4. A shoeaccording to claim 1, wherein locations where the rear ends of the sidestraps are secured to insole are positioned within a space covered byupper.
 5. A shoe according to claim 1, wherein the side straps areattached on either side of the sole at the same location where the coveris attached to the sole.
 6. A shoe according to claim 1, furthercomprising: fasteners detachably connecting the upper to the sole.
 7. Ashoe according to claim 1, wherein the sole comprises an insole formedof a material selected from the group consisting of memory foam andcork.
 8. A shoe according to claim 1, wherein the Y-shaped strap isformed of a material selected from the group consisting of elasticpolymer and leather.
 9. A shoe according to claim 1, wherein the entireshoe is formed of a material selected from the group consisting ofrubber, an elastomeric polymer, and a plush material.
 10. A shoeaccording to claim 1, wherein the upper is formed of a material selectedfrom the group consisting of fur, synthetic stretchable material,leather, and silk.